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<blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 3799024" data-attributes="member: 34175">I think the problem here is perception.&nbsp; I pretty much ignore any fanciful crap that has emerged in the last 50 years.&nbsp; My description was based on the original long haft(4-5 feet), two ring flail that eventually grew(shrank) into the short haft (about 2- 3 feet), the chain lengthened from two interlocking rings to a chain...in any measurement, thats longer. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />&nbsp; however, the French and English both had examples of the chain being longer than the haft.&nbsp; These were the cavalry versions and the speed and momentum of the horse was used as well as the wielder in order to get results.It depended upon the type of flail and the intended use.&nbsp; Whirling was used mostly by the small chained ground version (the one you referenced for example), the original agricultural version used a swinging motion similar to a large club (mimicked latter by the two-handed mace) and the cavalry version was actually hung to the side and slightly behind the rider and then brought sharply forward to delivery a crushing blow. *(this BTW is where the term flailing comes from)Actually, if you read my post there are examples of both multi-headed and spiked heads not just knobs and pyramids, but thin needle like projects (thin being relative here) on display at the Royal Museum in London.&nbsp; As to their effectiveness and use, the regular spiked headed one, probably saw some use, but the multi-headed flails were way too heavy to have been any more than a show piece used to inspire fear in the enemy.&nbsp; May have been used only for intimidation, but then no historical records exist that either support or deny their actual use. (That I am aware of anyway.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thunderfoot, post: 3799024, member: 34175"] I think the problem here is perception. I pretty much ignore any fanciful crap that has emerged in the last 50 years. My description was based on the original long haft(4-5 feet), two ring flail that eventually grew(shrank) into the short haft (about 2- 3 feet), the chain lengthened from two interlocking rings to a chain...in any measurement, thats longer. :) however, the French and English both had examples of the chain being longer than the haft. These were the cavalry versions and the speed and momentum of the horse was used as well as the wielder in order to get results. It depended upon the type of flail and the intended use. Whirling was used mostly by the small chained ground version (the one you referenced for example), the original agricultural version used a swinging motion similar to a large club (mimicked latter by the two-handed mace) and the cavalry version was actually hung to the side and slightly behind the rider and then brought sharply forward to delivery a crushing blow. *(this BTW is where the term flailing comes from) Actually, if you read my post there are examples of both multi-headed and spiked heads not just knobs and pyramids, but thin needle like projects (thin being relative here) on display at the Royal Museum in London. As to their effectiveness and use, the regular spiked headed one, [I]probably[/I] saw some use, but the multi-headed flails were way too heavy to have been any more than a show piece used to inspire fear in the enemy. May have been used only for intimidation, but then no historical records exist that either support or deny their actual use. (That I am aware of anyway.) [/QUOTE]

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